Among The Dragon Lines

A Walk in the Woods

6

FEB/13

As the team trudged through the jungle, injured operative hovering in tow behind Xiùlán, she wondered how this extra person would affect their plans. Honestly, she hadn’t expected that there would be any people at the airfield they had been hired to defend. It being neutral ground and already manned, her group’s presence appeared unnecessary at best and dangerous at worst, as the concentration of people could give the appearance that the base is more than meets the eye. Then again, maybe it is more than it appears. The extra people pose a new layer of complication, especially if they are opposed to the group making excursions away from the camp.

However, regardless of the airstrip, the group still have two other tasks to accomplish, both of which will take them far from their “base” of operations, so Xiùlán wondered aloud to the others as they made their way towards the airfield what would be the best way to divide their forces and accomplish their tasks.

Comments

It was surprisingly easy going through the woods, even with an unconscious body along for the ride. Pretty convenient being able to have them float along like that. While taking point and using the GPS to plot their way to the airstrip, Dredger was constantly flipping through different view modes with his ECVS, taking in as much as he could of his surroundings, always keeping his rifle at the ready. Unfamiliar territory was dangerous territory. He kept seeing little critters a ways off on the ground, or some up in the trees staying completely still as they passed. Blending his thermal and night vision modes made the best combination for getting the most out of his system, and he even snapped a couple pictures of the local animals that he wasn’t familiar with. Just for curiosities sake.

BMW was the first to break the silence to more or less ask what they should do about the other two jobs they have on their plate. Good question. Priority should be their “patient,” and Dredger was sure this airstrip had some for of infirmary or medical personnel…it would only make sense for an independent group out here to have a way to get patched up. Then the group would need to set up their base of operations, and take stock of what their responsibilities will have to be for the facility. How much equipment is there? How easy will it be to defend? How friendly are the local people at the airstrip? Will they be willing to help us if it came to that? That will probably be decided via conversation between BMW and the Sheriff.

Dredger wasn’t sure what to do yet for those other Runs they took on. Gathering plants and that giant cylinder. He suggested they be completed at the same time, if possible. The group was given permission to use Combat Inc. pickup and utility style vehicles, just nothing military in nature. If weapons are mounted, they are to be taken off before the vehicle is used. And Chuckles…no tanks. First few days should be setting up their current base before they start adventuring further out. Dredger also lets the group know he can request satellite imagery from Combat Inc. of regions they are operating in, but they might deny or ask a lot of questions if they try to get images of the location of that giant metal cylinder. The worst they can do though is tell us no. And when it comes to sending people up there? Probably BMW and Tenryu. If shit hits the fan, Tenryu is skilled at evading and BMW can simply change into a bird or something and fly away. That’s in a very big “OH SHIT!” scenario, though. Dredger gives a grim reminder about the Ravar creatures that could be encountered.

There is a pause from the group and they mull over Dredgers words, and he waits to see what they might suggest then as well.

You guys still have your annonymity masks from Combat inc on still. Will you guys continue to wear them throughout the mission or take them off or what? Just curious as it will likely change how people respond to you.

During the training I would have inquired about why we had the masks in the first place. If there was a good reason for the anonymity, I would insist that we continue to wear the masks in the presence of most of the outsiders. If there isn’t a great reason, I would leave it to each team member’s discretion.

He is packing a battle rifle whose make you do not recognize and a couple side arms.I just re-downloaded my pdfs last night so I dont have his exact loadout yet.

The point of the masks during training was to keep everyone within the shadowrun community annonymous to each other. Only the individual teams that would stick togather for this mission knew who eachother were, and even they were randomly distributed within the drop plane so no one could connect anyone to anyone else. It was for when you were around the other shadow runners you did not know, not specific to actually performing the mission.

Knowing that we saved BAMFKMFK makes me feel a lot better, frankly. I now feel good about us being able to split into two groups: one scout and one defender. I think that Tenryu and myself should be able to look into finding the cylinder and scouting the area for the plants while Chuckles and Dredger defend and further fortify the airstrip with the help of Kringle. I would recommend to them that it might be a good idea to see what kind of security the facility has other than the fence and see what kind of surveillance we might be able to arrange. If there seems to be nothing in the way of surveillance equipment, I would set up a rotation of watcher spirits to move along just outside of the perimeter of the fence and to alert me when any large animals or humanoids approach.

Knowing that he’s a friend of Chuckles’ also means that I’m more inclined than usual to see if the airstrip medical team is up to the task of healing Kringle. If they’re not capable enough, I would try to contact Splint and arrange for him to come over briefly for a housecall.

Regarding masks, I would recommend to the team that it might be a good idea to wear them when outside of the airstrip to ensure anonymity from other teams but also to cover our tracks as we conduct some of our activities that fall outside of the scope of our contract with Combat, Inc.

Both & more, so don’t botch those random roles I have you do, they matter. And dont delay getting them to me, if you dont respond to the roll request I may just assume its a glitch… MUAHAHA… then again it might be my cruddy phone acting up.

I would keep my mask on, even during interaction with the locals of the airstrip. The only time I would feel comfortable taking it off would be in the confines of our own “building” or wherever we set up camp at. And I would insist that I be referred to as “Slowpitch” for the remainder of this mission as well.

We never did get Splint’s nickname to be used for this Combat Inc. mission, so we have to be careful not to toss his real one (Splint) out there and besmirch it. He has a moderately public business going, and I wouldn’t want to make trouble for him when we get back. But yes, if there are complications with Kringle we should make an effort to contact Splint. Even just for advice, if that’s all we can get.

Is Dredger able to make a roll to determine anything about the battle rifle? He has Professional Knowledge: Firearm Design 3 and his Logic is 3, giving a dice pool of 6. Even if you want to roll it for me and send me the results privately.

When it comes to the mission for Cowl and retrieving that big cylinder…sure we might be able to find a truck it can be loaded into. But HOW does something like that get loaded up? We better have a winch or some kind of rear lift built onto the trucks we have available, or else it’ll be all muscle power and/or floating the item up onto the truck. And we have zero clues on the weight of this item. Better be prepared as much as possible for that.

I would have to hope that Splint could recognize our voices and try to make a general call for assistance over Combat Inc’s radio band.

If you feel that strongly about the masks, Splint, then you should stick with it. I’m not quite so worried. It does sound like a good idea to keep using our fake names, though. I can be Beef for a few weeks.

We know Splint will be more centrally located, or in our case west of the airstrip. And I’m sure he’ll be one of the more qualified medical experts out there with Scar Face, so sending out a message asking for medical assistance using the Combat Inc radio systems then I am sure we could get in touch with him. Use enough vague details and the picture gets painted to the point Splint could see what we are drawing and he’ll know we are trying to contact him.

Now BMW…how easy will it be for you to spot these plants you are trying to find? Do they need any special transportation medium? Or can you just yank them from the ground and have them in a burlap sack to be saved for later?

When it comes to you magical powers, I’m at a loss. I don’t know you exact capabilities, and don’t truly understand magic because you are one of the few I have worked with that has the ability. I know you were able to mind control a person at one point…is that limited to meta humans, or could you potentially control an animal as well? This could be useful if you and Tenryu encounter some nasty critters up north, but I understand they may be Awakened and have a natural affinity to…resist your abilities? Am I getting that right? I just want to know what you can bring to the table for magical assets in this scenario. What stands out that can be immediately useful? Obviously floating a body is a huge plus so we don’t get tired running through the woods at night.

Chuckles would not care if we wear or don’t wear the masks. As far as mission priority, protecting the base is job one because they’re our ride home. retrieving the package is priority 2, BAMFKMFK is 3rd. BAMFKMFK stats are much better then ours! Chuckles and him should be able to hold the airstrip for a while if a 3rd person is needed for the second job.

Out of character: stats say mob mind works for all living creatures. Pete, I don’t know if there is a spell specifically for controlling animals; if not I would guess that “all living creatures” includes animals.

The plants should be easy to spot. They are awakened, so I should be able to see them using my mage sight. They won’t require any special care; we just need to dig them out with the roots. Hopefully there will be a magical planted garden near the cylinder.

Concerning the Plants: They should be easy to see via astral perception, however its not like you are looking for cat-tails here. Even if there is one for an area the size of a football field it will still be hard to actually find and will take time.

Concerning Controlling Beast: I am out of town and do not have the books readily available. If there is no spell in the Street Magic book that is specific to animals then yes, mob mind would work on animals like it says (please check the street magic book). Keep in mind that you may need to dumb down complex commands for animals and like we had agreed before I will give them bonuses to resist your spefic commands based on the complexity and the how much command goes against their instincts. Like having a mother kill her cub vs. killing a pack member is going to be different, but both go against the animals instincts.